Nigerian Politicians Should Be Sworn In Using Deadly Deities; No More Bible Or Quran! By Elias Ozikpu

Corruption is pervasive amongst Nigerian politicians because engaging in it has absolutely no consequences. This explains why Nigerian politicians see political offices as a means of accumulating unprecedented wealth for themselves and their generations yet unborn, rather than serving their employers—the people. They hop from one public office to the next without any visible performance at their previous office to justify why they desperately seek to occupy the next office. This is why they came up with the figurative term “National Cake,” which is a vague reference to the Nigerian treasury. It explains, indirectly, that the nation’s treasury is meant for feasting, and so these men and women arrive with massive appetites and sink their long, terrible claws into this figurative “cake.”

Corruption by politicians, civil servants, contractors, appointees, and everyone who is linked with public funds will become forbidden the day Nigerians take off their garment of docility and rightly impose themselves as the true employers of public officials.

It is concerning that for anyone to enjoy the great benefits that oil-rich Nigeria has to offer its citizens, one is compulsorily required to become a politician or be closely affiliated with one, without which they will only remain victims of over-taxation to fund the flamboyant lifestyles of political officials who do absolutely nothing to advance the interests of those they purport to represent. Also, without occupying any political office as a Nigerian, one cannot enjoy the benefits of oil revenue, from which the country has generated several billions of US dollars since independence. Despite this outrageous amount of money that has been generated over the years, Nigeria has remained the antithesis of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and other oil-producing heavyweights. And corruption is, without a doubt, the principal reason for this setback.

The effects of corruption in Nigeria have been well documented by several researchers. We must recall that in 2017, Oxfam International published a report titled “Nigeria: Extreme Inequality in Numbers.” The report said, in part:

“Between 1960 and 2005, about $20 trillion was stolen from the treasury by public office holders. This amount is larger than the GDP of the United States in 2012 (about $18 trillion).

“Poverty and inequality in Nigeria are not due to a lack of resources, but to the ill-use, misallocation, and misappropriation of such resources. At the root is a culture of corruption combined with a political elite out of touch with the daily struggles of average Nigerians.”

It was crucial to establish this background to enable us to understand the need for new, aggressive measures to check corruption in the Nigerian public sphere, which is the direct consequence of the pervasive economic inequality, underdevelopment, and several other factors that characterise Nigeria as a poor and underdeveloped nation. Oxfam’s report lends credence to my submission that Nigeria’s massive wealth benefits only political elites and their cronies, which clearly explains the usual desperation by these men and women to access public offices at all costs. For this to change, Nigerians must deploy a very radical form of resistance. One of which is the need to push for a revolution, something that has taken place in many developed countries of the world where Nigeria’s failed politicians often run to in search of medical treatment for their ailments, however inconsequential. But because Nigerians have proven for the umpteenth time to be amongst some of the most docile people on earth, pushing for a revolution appears to be a tall order. One must inure oneself to the fact that people who cannot decipher that what is happening in their country is “internal colonialism” cannot contemplate pushing for freedom. Urging such people to push for a revolution is synonymous with telling a happy slave that they are not free. The slave would look at their “chainless” wrists and ankles, then burst into a cackling laughter because, by their own estimation, the speaker appeared to be mentally challenged.

As an alternative to a revolution, therefore, one thing Nigerians must insist on, even in their state of utter docility, is the use of some of Nigeria’s deadliest deities to swear in politicians at all levels. But this must not involve elected officers alone. Civil servants, political appointees at all levels, political contractors who apply and receive contracts from the government, and everyone linked with the use of public funds for whatever purpose must be compelled to take their oath of office using a deadly deity, authorising the said deadly deity to inflict them with instant death or paralysis of both hands and legs if they fail to be honest or compromise public interest during their period in office or whilst their contract with the government lasts.

Nigerian political office holders are usually sworn in using the Bible or the Quran, but this has been abused, as these individuals are not without the knowledge that by using these two holy books, the consequences of the untold atrocities they commit upon assuming office are not necessarily instantaneous. So, in effect, what it means is that all Nigerian politicians are either Christians or Muslims. But the question is: why has corruption enormously grown in variety, magnitude, and utter brazenness with daily reports of the outrageous amount of money stolen from public coffers? This must stop. Going forward, Nigerians must insist that anyone who wishes to access public office in whatever capacity must be sworn in using a no-nonsense deity with an affirmation that they intend to act in the best interest of the country and its people and that at no time will they be involved in corrupt dealings of any kind. Any day the oath is violated, it must immediately attract devastating consequences.

Of course, one of the ways corrupt politicians and their subordinates will attempt to avoid this is by invoking their usual stale argument that they are not practitioners of the traditional faith. Let it be stated that mandating public officials to take their oath of office using a deadly deity does not necessarily stop them from continuing with whatever they believe in. The oath will only be a compulsory requirement to access public offices across all sectors in Nigeria.

Since independence, political office holders in Nigeria have been sworn in with either the Bible or the Quran, yet throughout the period of their administrations, corruption has threatened to paralyse or has paralysed the country, plunging millions of people into poverty whilst politicians live in affluence, keeping them completely out of touch with the daily struggles of everyday people whose interests they were elected to advance and protect. Now that it has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the conventional way of swearing in politicians is inimical to the growth of the nation and its people, a new approach, which must be traditional, as already explained, has to be adopted. Any politician not willing to follow the collective will of the people obviously has the propensity of being corrupt upon assuming office and must therefore be barred from accessing that office. But whilst at it, attention must be paid to every detail to avoid ultra-desperate politicians from smuggling themselves into office by arranging for fake deities that will cause them no harm when they violate their oath of office.

Nigerians want instant punitive measures against those who deliberately inflict them with poverty and all sorts of hardship. The people can no longer endure their suffering throughout their lifetime, only to wait until we all die before judgement is delivered against their ruthless oppressors. No, we can no longer wait. Of what use will that be to people who, by design, were deprived of the good things of life throughout their lifetime? Millions of Nigerians living in the South-South, South-East, South-West, North-Central, North-West, and North-East have never enjoyed the great benefits that Nigeria has to offer them as citizens. The government does not provide jobs for them, yet it burdens them with excessive taxation—taxing jobless people! In fact, for these Nigerians, who are in the millions, the benefit of being born as Nigerians is not clear to them. For instance, even the petrol subsidy, which many of them believed was the only thing they benefited from as citizens, has also been taken away from them.

It is my contention that Nigeria’s wealth is not for its politicians alone. Every Nigerian has the right to benefit from the country’s immense wealth, which politicians often claim is “scarce” but never resign for lack of funds in the offices they occupy. The people should not only be remembered when politicians need taxes to increase their wealth. We cannot have a country that has arguably the highest number of poor people in the world whilst at the same time parading some of the world’s “wealthiest” politicians! This can’t be!

Consequently, the only way the people can be sure of justice is when they insist that all politicians, their appointees, civil servants [in all sectors], political contractors, etc. should be sworn in using the deadliest of all deities before they can be trusted with any position or contract. Without this measure, public offices in Nigeria will continue to attract the wrong people—people who see politics as the shortest route to acquiring the type of wealth they have always dreamed about.

The power to make decisions—to hire or fire—lies with the people, not self-seeking politicians. The day Nigerians realise this and get to know the weight of their true power, that day will set the wheels rolling for our collective emancipation from our perennial captors!